World War II United States Military Figure. Captain Van Kirk was the last surviving crew member of the B-29 Superfortress Bomber, known as the Enola Gay, that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945. Pilot Colonel Paul Tibetts hand picked Van Kirk to be his navigator on the historic mission. Van Kirk remained in the military for one more year following the war and then received a bachelors and masters degree in chemical engineering. He had a 35 year career with Dupont before retiring in 1985. In 2007 Van Kirk auctioned off his flight log from the Enola Gay mission because he wanted it to be in a museum. It sold for $358,500.